Various types and configurations of carriers have been heretofore devised for utilization in the carrying and display of samples of fabric, rug, wallpaper or other materials that are of flat, sheet-form. The known carrier structures, which have been heretofore employed in sales field for fabrics and rugs, generally include a structurally rigid back plate provided with a header element that may be hinged to the back plate for relative swinging movement. The header element is normally of an elongated channel configuration adapted for receiving marginal edge portions of the fabric samples which are secured in the header by suitable fastening means. Conventionally, a number of bolt or pin-type fasteners are provided to extend between opposed flanges of the header channel and through the marginal edge portions of the fabric samples.
Examples of previously utilized structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,237,825, issued to C. H. Marbut on Mar. 1, 1966 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,631,975, issued to Martin H. Leibowitz on Jan. 4, 1972. The structures disclosed in those patents exemplify the customary configuration and structural combinations employed in such carriers. While these carriers are capable of readily facilitating portability of the fabric samples through the provision of carrying handles and the advantageous display of the fabrics through the pivoted or hinged arrangement of the header to the back or cover plate, these carriers are of a construction having a substantial disadvantage in convenience of utilization in that they are not particularly adapted for storage on shelves or other supporting surfaces.
Generally, these samples carriers are of a type that must be laid flat on horizontal surfaces for storage and consequently must be stacked one on top of the other in the interest of conserving storage space or may be hung by their carrying handle. This is true for either a salesman who must transport a number of such carriers in providing a selection to a customer or a person who primarily operates in a sales room or designer's situation where customers or the designer examine the fabric samples in a fixed location such as an office or design room, or a sales room.